New white papers from The Green Grid address need for energy efficiency upgrades to ageing data centres

The proportion of data centre space in Western Europe that is outsourced is forecast to increase to 28 per cent by 2015, almost double to 2011 level (16 per cent). The UK – and London in particular – was a major global centre of data centre development through the mid-1990s, as the advent of the Internet drove a data storage boom.

The UK will remain a key player in the western European third-party data centre market in the coming years – with a predicted 21 per cent of space by 2016 – but many data centres are lagging behind new developments in terms of energy efficiency, and are in need of substantial upgrades.
Together, the new white papers from The Green Grid provide a framework for facility operators to maintain their data centre from its first day of operation onwards, as well as covering the planning and implementation of modifications to data centre infrastructure. Both papers were developed using recommendations and best practice from The Green Grid’s network of end-users, policy-makers, technology providers, facility architects, and utility companies.

The first white paper, An Integrated Approach to Operational Efficiency and Reliability, focuses on the earliest planning and design phases of the facility life cycle of a data centre. It describes the consideration and documentation of data centre operations and management tools by the project development team at those early stages. The paper also explains how data centre systems and subsystems can be made to work collaboratively towards optimising energy efficiency, reliability, control, and maintainability.

“The sustained operations phase is a key part of the data centre life cycle, and can have a profound impact on your facility’s performance,” said [NAME], [COMPANY] representative and Board Member of The Green Grid. “This white paper examines efficiency topics across all phases of data centre development, making it simple for IT and data centre managers to explore one or more topics of interest, including the planning and design phase, as well as construction, commissioning, turnover and transition, and operations phases.”

Power Equipment and Data Centre Design, the second white paper published today, covers the importance of power system diagrams and explores a number of factors that affect efficiency – including power system configurations and the development of data centres over time. The paper provides detailed discussion of various power system components, as well as diagrams illustrating measurement and control points for each component. Component categories covered include: the End-to-End Power System, UPS, Transformers, PDU, ICTE PSU, and Generator Set.

Both white papers are available to download for free from The Green Grid’s website:
· An Integrated Approach to Operational Efficiency and Reliability
· Power Equipment and Data Centre Design